Bob Hunt Photographer

Category: Ramblers

Sophomore Kendall Duffyhit a fifth-inning grand slam to highlight a five-run inning for Bradley and freshmanJaelen Hull limited Loyola to four hits and one run in three and one-third innings out of the bullpen as the Braves rallied for an 8-7 victory against the Ramblers in the championship game of the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon. Bradley (27-30 overall), which earned its second NCAA Tournament trip with the victory, trailed twice before Duffy’s fifth-inning grand slam gave the Braves an 8-6 lead after five innings. Madeline Lynch-Crumrine was named the tournament MVP after posting a 2-0 record with a 1.98 ERA in three starts to go with a .273 batting average at the plate. She was joined with team mates Brianne Joseph, Shannon King and senior Marina Groenewegen. Along with the all-tournament honors, seniorMariah Colewas named the MVC’s Elite 18 Award winner, given to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average in the championship game. A health science major, Cole owns a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average. The tournament title was Bradley’s second in program history and first since winning the 2009 event at Eastside Centre in East Peoria, IL. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced Sunday at 9 p.m. (CDT) on ESPNU. Here are a few of my snap shots from the game. I hope you enjoy them. Best of luck to coach Amy Hayes and the team Go Braves!

Bradley University matched its conference win total from 2013 season, rallying from behind in both games of a Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader against Loyola to top the Ramblers 3-2 and 4-2 Saturday afternoon at Laura Bradley Park. The Braves improved to 8-3 in Valley play for the first time since opening the 1986 Gateway Conference schedule with an identical 8-3 mark. Loyola pitcher Brittany Garnder took a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning of the opener before the Braves rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 3-2 victory. Junior Alyson Clementeled off the seventh with a double to right and fellow junior Shannon King tied the game at 2-2, ripping the first pitch she saw over the fence in center field. Madeline Lynch-Crumrine struck out a career-high nine batters in the complete game victory to improve to 11-9 on the year. The win was the 40th of Lynch-Crumrine’s career. In the nightcap, freshman pitcher Jaelen Hull did not allow a Loyola hit until the Ramblers opened the fourth with a bunt single. Two more hits in the inning and a Bradley error led to a pair of runs as the Braves found themselves trailing 2-1 heading to the fifth.

In this special video edition of Meet the Braves, Hall of Fame Voice of the Braves Dave Snell introduces viewers to Bradley University’s new gargoyle mascot, Kaboom! Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgigKPXraY.Bradley Athletics teams have been known as the Braves since the 1920s when then baseball/men’s basketball/football coach and athletic director A.J. Robertson determined too many schools used the Indians nickname and wanted something more distinctive. In 1992, however, the school removed all Native American imagery in reference to its athletics teams while introducing a bobcat mascot. Kaboom! is a gargoyle modeled after The Thinker, which sits atop the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center and watches over the Alumni Quad on the west side of the Bradley University campus. Gargoyles have had a presence on the Bradley University campus from the school’s beginning as part of the architecture of the school’s signature building, Bradley Hall. A new collection of gargoyles was added to the campus community when the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center was completed in 2011.

Bradley (12-17, 7-9 MVC) used a season-best 14 steals to force 23 Loyola-Chicago turnovers in a 55-38 victory Saturday night at Carver Arena. Bradley limited the Ramblers (9-19, 4-12 MVC) to the fewest point total by a Braves opponent since a 76-35 win against Oakland Dec. 6, 1997. For the second time this year, a Bradley opponent did not produce a double-digit scorer and Loyola shot just 26.5 percent (13-49) from the field, including 1-for-18 (.056) from 3-point range. Walt Lemon, Jr. finished as the game’s only double-digit scorer with 16 points, pushing him into the top 50 (49th) in Missouri Valley Conference history with 1,659 career points. He also registered five of Bradley’s 14 steals, moving past Daniel Ruffin into fourth place in school history with 211 career steals. Lemon is one of four Bradley seniors who will play their final Bradley Basketball home game Tuesday night when the Braves host #3 Wichita State (29-0, 16-0) in a nationally-televised game at Carver Arena. The nation’s lone unbeaten team, Wichita State is trying to unseat the 1985-86 Bradley Braves (16-0) as the last undefeated Valley regular-season champion.